A $40 Million Rock on Mars?

There just found percipitated minerals in the cracks of onethe basalt waters,
proving free water. Thats worth the ponderous progress.

"rick++" wrote in message
om...
There just found percipitated minerals in the cracks of onethe basalt
waters,
proving free water. Thats worth the ponderous progress.

Exactly.

" George" wrote in news:B9s2c.32155$6e7.30756
@bignews1.bellsouth.net:

"rick++" wrote in message
om...
There just found percipitated minerals in the cracks of onethe basalt
waters,
proving free water. Thats worth the ponderous progress.

Exactly.



Oh ye of small expectations!

Putting this as politely as I can, the finding:

A. Could have been made without spending six days hovering around the
rock.

B. Was likely pushed onto the agenda to "catch up" with the MER-B team
in terms of discovering evidence of water. IE "Us Too"

C. Is insignificant in the face of the findings by MER-B in Meridiani.

D. Is tentative.

"mlm" wrote in message
...
" George" wrote in news:B9s2c.32155$6e7.30756
@bignews1.bellsouth.net:

"rick++" wrote in message
om...
There just found percipitated minerals in the cracks of onethe basalt
waters,
proving free water. Thats worth the ponderous progress.

Exactly.



Oh ye of small expectations!

Putting this as politely as I can, the finding:

A. Could have been made without spending six days hovering around the
rock.

Specific evidence, please?

B. Was likely pushed onto the agenda to "catch up" with the MER-B team
in terms of discovering evidence of water. IE "Us Too"

Specific evidence, please?

C. Is insignificant in the face of the findings by MER-B in Meridiani.

Maybe, maybe not. Time will tell.
Even if it is, so what?


D. Is tentative.

So what?

"mlm" wrote in message
...
" George" wrote in news:B9s2c.32155$6e7.30756
@bignews1.bellsouth.net:

"rick++" wrote in message
om...
There just found percipitated minerals in the cracks of onethe basalt
waters,
proving free water. Thats worth the ponderous progress.

Exactly.



Oh ye of small expectations!

Putting this as politely as I can, the finding:

A. Could have been made without spending six days hovering around the
rock.

And you would have done this how? and with what tools?

B. Was likely pushed onto the agenda to "catch up" with the MER-B team
in terms of discovering evidence of water. IE "Us Too"

C. Is insignificant in the face of the findings by MER-B in Meridiani.

Any time direct evidence of water is found on Mars, it is not an insignificant
finding.

D. Is tentative.

What kind of batteries do the Rovers use?

I was a bit startled when I heard that the batts might actually wear
out within a few months or so. But then NiCads wear out after so many
rechargings, so maybe not surprising at all.

[What IS surprising is that they did not include some simple device to
clear dust from the panels. A small pressurized He gas canister and
nozzle might have done the trick, used every month or so.]

I wonder if the builders considered an alternate circuit to power
devices directly off the solar panels if the batts wore out? Might
require tighter rationing of amperage and slowing of the schedule, but
you would still have useful data being collected.

In place of batteries, or as an adjunct, a flywheel energy-storage
unit might have done the trick. A bit more prone to mechanical
failure, but it is proven technology and would have a much longer
life.

Indeed - a few small design changes and you have a Mars rover that can
operate indefintely, with a lifetime range of many kilometers instead
of just meters.

I should have become an engineer.


(rick++) wrote in message . com...
The hope is each mission will last 200-250 days even though they were
nominally designed for 90 days. Then you get triple your value like
for the Jupiter Galileo mission.

Assuming no major mechical or software failure, potential end of the mission
include batteries wearing out, solar panels covered with too much dust,
a decline in sunlight as winter approaches, a long sand storm, decreased
data network capacity as the Cassini probe arrives at Saturn this summer,
Mars getting too close to the Sun in Earth's sky in September, and so on.

In the later part of the mission, the rover will only be used every 2nd or
3rd day, giving the batteries more time to charge.

"WM Morgan" wrote in message
om...
What kind of batteries do the Rovers use?

I was a bit startled when I heard that the batts might actually wear
out within a few months or so. But then NiCads wear out after so many
rechargings, so maybe not surprising at all.

[What IS surprising is that they did not include some simple device to
clear dust from the panels. A small pressurized He gas canister and
nozzle might have done the trick, used every month or so.]

And pollute the atmosphere? Wouldn't spraying He in the vicinity of the
rover taint the experiments? Much as if we used water?

I wonder if the builders considered an alternate circuit to power
devices directly off the solar panels if the batts wore out? Might
require tighter rationing of amperage and slowing of the schedule, but
you would still have useful data being collected.

I am sure they did.
snip


--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com